The Dare Dragon Group now owns the biggest building in town. Just between the Jarl's Longhouse and the new market area, a four-story building built with the urban techniques brought to this world by a certain otherworlder.
This building was wide and big, it had a lot of offices which were mostly busy all day long. Most of the employees from the management and the financial departments were mostly stationed here in the first, second and third floors. My office has completely taken over the fourth floor.
It is not me being bossy or anything, I just decided that all the archives and the important files should be kept near to the secretary room and also I wanted a meeting and a CEO office in the most modern way possible.
It ended up looking really good and I got praised a lot by Nurina who filled for me the last two weeks.
Now, in this fourth floor, a lot of people gathered up and were mostly glaring at each other.
On the head of the table was the powerhouses of Winterhold which are mostly the senior executives of my company, Jarl Korir was called over. On the right side, there was the Imperial Envoy who is apparently called Viscount Lucius, accompanied by a Nord Legion Officer referred to as Legate Thorvar and the Imperial Businesswoman Vittoria Vici. On the left side, there was the messenger from Windhelm, Captain Mislav Stone-Crusher accompanied by Ralof of Riverwood. At the end of the table was the Firemanes and on top of them there was Uncle Njord, father and mother were not showing their faces and sat behind him.
The overall atmosphere in the room was like a ticking bomb. The Imperial Envoy was glaring at the Stormcloak Messenger, Vittoria Vici was glaring at me, Njord was glaring at Legat Thorvar, Ralof was glaring at Jullanar, Nefertiti was glaring at the food on the table. All in all, everyone was glaring at something for some reason. I tried to find something to glare at but it seems that I had nothing left to glare at me back.
Soon after, someone finally ended the glaring contest.
"I suppose you are Jon Dare, you made us wait for three days! Three days in this Godforsaken wasteland." It was the Imperial Envoy Viscount Lucious who spoke first, what a rude tone.
"Thane Jon Dare, it is an honor to finally meet you in person." The Stormcloak Messenger Captain Mislav took a different approach.
"The honor is mine."
As I replied, Captain Mislav grinned at Viscount Lucius.
"I understand that all the parties in this room insisted on having a meeting as soon as possible. So… what is the urgent matter?"
"The urgent matter is about Winterhold, this place is slacking on taxes, refusing to provide recruits, hiding details from the periodic reports to Solitude, and as soon as I arrive here, we find that the whole hold is under monopoly by a single entity." Viscount Lucius started shouting around.
This man! Is he trying to provoke me?
I could see the Imperial Legat beside him sighing while Vittoria Vici was nodding to his words.
Hmmm! This group is not rhyming well.
"I see! These matters are mostly for the Jarl to take care of, isn't that right Jarl Korir?"
"It certainly is." Korir replied.
"And also if there are any complaints about the Dare Dragon Group, you can file it to the Legal Department of our Company on the second floor, office number 2, Mrs. Roz."
The Imperial Envoy looked at me as if I said something strange.
"Legal Department! What is that for?" Vittoria Vici asked.
"It consists of highly educated employees known as Lawyers, they have studied all the laws of the Empire and the Kingdom of Skyrim and they make sure that all our actions are within the law, they also receive the complains of any official envoy and they hold a lot of authority to even put my actions within the company on hold."
"....."
This is how awesome my small army of lawyers is, you think I would be reincarnated without spreading the holy occupation of lawyers.
Law is mostly practiced by the high members of the community and they are mostly the ones people refer to as nobles. In Cyrodiil they are the regular noble from counts and viscounts through all the ranks, and in Skyrim, it is they Jarls and Thanes as well as the other official titles.
To have a legal department like mine is a bit unthinkable. How can normal people practice law that is mostly monopolized and abused by high ranking members of society? Maybe nobles in this world are actually Nobles and treat the people fairly unlike how it used to appear in the works of fiction I read in my past life but people always find ways to degrade others. And now, as I gave some commoners the power of knowledge about law, I can be seen as someone who cheated and cheated very badly.
They should have realized by now that I can't be cornered when it comes to the validity of my actions. Everything is crystal clear by law.
The Imperial Envoys backed down a bit to think of a comeback while the Stormcloaks decided to play this time.
"By the way, Thane Jon, I noticed a new temple being built in town. Will there be a Shrine for Talos?" Ralof asked.
This was a direct question. Even the Imperials looked at me waiting for an answer.
Sadly…
"No, it pains me but the worship of Talos was outlawed by the Empire."
My answer made the Imperials look at me as if I said something strange, it seemed that they were expecting otherwise. The Stormcloaks, however, seemed to be provoked.
"Outlawed? Are you seriously saying that?"
"I just did, you heard me."
"How could you? And you call yourself a Nord?"
"I do."
All the sides on the table felt conflicted, I could see Njord looking at me and asking what the hell did I just say.
"Then, Thane Jon, which divine is that temple dedicated to?" Vittoria Vici asked.
I looked at her with a smile.
"For Kyne!"
"""Kyne?"""
Everyone in the room was taken aback.
Of course they should! In this day and age no one worships Kyne openly anymore.
Kyne is part of the Old Nordic Divines and later was replaced by Kynareth in Alessian Doctrine that was set by the Empire. As the Empire, this kind of worship was long since gone.
Even the Stormcloaks were looking at me strangely.
Talos didn't exist in the Old Gods but there was another aspect of him and that was Ysmir.
Gods are a bit tricky, they can be the same entity but they have different aspects and each aspect has its own personality. For example, Kyne is an aspect of the warrior goddess of the storm, she was worshipped back in the days when most of the Nord women were warriors fighting alongside men in every battle, on the other hand, Kynareth is another aspect that is associated with the Sky and mostly Healing, she replaced Kyne when the Nordic women started to tend to their homes and left battles for the men. Another example is Arkay, in the Alessian Doctrine, he is the God of Death in the ceremonial meaning and is associated with the circle of Life and Death, in the old Nordic religion, Arkay is Orkey, the God of Death in the sense of a grim reaper, Orkey was the sole reason why Humans live shorter than Elves as he cursed them once to live shorter, if not for the efforts of Ysmir and Shor who managed to defeat him, the human lifespan would have fallen to six years old.
Anyway, Reverting to the old Gods such as Kyne, Ysmir and Shor is not a crime but no one do that practice anymore. The Empire won't really care about it and the Stormcloak may also welcome it as a comeback for the glorious gods of the past. The only ones who will see this as a provocation are the Thalmor and they will try to do something about it for sure. These Nordic Gods are the adversaries of the Elven Gods and part of the reason why the worship Talos, who is very connected to the Old Nordic Gods, is being outlawed.
In the eyes of everyone, I actually did nothing wrong. Actually, the hidden clans are mostly Daedra worshippers or Old Nordic Gods worshippers, the main reason why they are hidden and think of themselves as peaceful cults.
In both religion and law, I am in the green zone for these parties.
"Also, in Winterhold we respect both Law and Freedom, even if there is a member of the worshipper of Talos or even a worshipper of a Daedra, we wouldn't act like the Vigilants or the Law Officers. However, if we can resolve these matters peacefully, why even start discriminating each other? Everyone is free to worship and free to love as long as they don't bring harm to the others or break the law."
Closing these matters like that will force the two parties to go back to their factions first and come up with another plan later.
"Very well, this will pose no problem then." Viscount Lucius backed off reluctantly.
Captain Mislav nodded and seemed to be rather disappointed that he couldn't draw me to Ulfric's side.
"I want to talk about something rather important." This time, it was Vittoria Vici. She didn't look at me and directed the talk to Jarl Korir.
"My Jarl, when we asked around Winterhold lately, it seemed that all the resources and the economical spots were rented to the Dare Dragon Group, mind telling me how did that happen?"
Her question was not direct, she just asked about how Korir gave me the power to act in the place as if is my own backyard.
"It was through Thane Jon's effort that Winterhold managed to take the road once again towards a better future. I was very pleased and decided to give Thane Jon all the important matters only a remarkable man like him can attend to, and here we are, haha!" Jarl Korir replied with a wide smile.
Vittoria Vici made an innocent face and directed another question.
"But wouldn't it be more beneficial for Winterhold to create a competitive atmosphere, I am sure Thane Jon wouldn't mind have my small company to start some business around these parts. I will make sure that Jarl Korir will see these benefits first hand too."
This bitch!
Alina and Jull, who were me, were about to release their killing intent. This girl tried to lure Korir with benefits and wanted to make a foothold in Winterhold.
With no shame or honor, trying to press Korir with her identity and she thought that I don't know who is she.
As a matter of fact, I received a report that she paid a visit to Korir and introduced herself to him with her real identity, not the so-called small company owner she is playing now.
Still, how can I not know one of the most important NPCs in the game?
I guess I should make things clear at this point.
"How can miss Vittoria's business can be called small?" I said with a smile. "You are exactly the last person I want in Winterhold. Haha!"
The Imperials glared at me but they managed to hold themselves back in the end.
"Thane Jon, please don't overestimate me! If not for my connection with Lord Lucius here, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to be in this meeting."
"I see! So, the Chief Executive of Skyrim's Branch of the East Empire Company and the Cousin of Emperor Titus Mede II needs a connection to meet with a mere citizen like me?"
To my words, both the Imperials and the Stormcloaks jumped on their feet and placed their hands on their hilts.
If I am not careful during the next few minutes, the Civil War may start four years too early.
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A/N: I forgot to mention that the novel got renamed because of the sites that started to steal my novel as of late. It made them get confused but those guys still found out.
Also, sorry about yesterday, even Daedric Princes catch flu.
~~~~~~~~~~
"I see! So, the Chief Executive of Skyrim's Branch of the East Empire Company and the Cousin of Emperor Titus Mede II needs a connection to meet with a mere citizen like me?"
To my words, both the Imperials and the Stormcloaks jumped on their feet and placed their hands on their hilts.
The tension was as high as Mt. Anthor and it seemed that it is not going to turn out really well.
Vittoria Vici was looking at me with eyes wide open, Viscount Lucius took out a staff from his robe and Legat Thorvar put his hands on his sword's hilt. They all were wary of the Stormcloaks on the other side of the table.
Speaking of them, the also stood up with their hands on the hilts of their swords while glaring with murderous spirit at Vittoria Vici.
"Tsk tsk tsk! And I thought better of you folks, on a table of diplomacy you guys would glare at each other with such rudeness, how shameful!"
I couldn't help but mock them out loud, these hot-heads were really going for it.
"The cousin of the man who sold Skyrim and Talos to the Elves is right in front of us, how can you just ask us to remain silent?" Captain Mislav said while looking with hate at Vittoria Vici.
"Watch your tongue! What you said just now is a high treason to the Empire, if not for the Emperor's understanding nature, the likes of you would have been purged long ago."
"The likes of me? You filthy Imperial Dog! After all, what your Empire has done, you still dare to lecture me?"
"Humph! Barbaric folk like you are the reason why the situation is like this from the start."
"Why don't you just go and make your ears pointy like your Elvish masters? bunch of cowards!"
"Dirty barbarians like yourself shouldn't be allowed to..."
These people were taking it too far.
With a snap of my fingers, the situation changed dramatically.
Hilda waved her axe at the Imperial Legat blocking his path, Jonrad drew his golden blade at the Stormcloak Messenger, Wulfur held a small knife on the neck of the Imperial Envoy and Jull aimed her crossbow at Ralof.
"Such a nerve! To dare and aim your weapon at me, An Imperial Envoy!" Viscount Lucius glared at Wulfur who gazed back at him coldly.
"Jon Dare? This is a stupid move!" Legat Thorvar said.
"I knew you are that killer from that day!" Ralof was glaring at Jull.
The tension reached its peak.
"You bunch! You were thinking of waving your weapons at each other under my roof? Does my presence worth shit to you? So you so-called diplomats are just some mad dogs in the end."
I was genuinely pissed. Starting a fight in Winterhold meant that this area will get marked for trouble, I knew from the start but both the Empire and the Stormcloaks think so little of Winterhold.
These trash!
I only stirred some muddy waters and now they want to make it into a flood.
"You, you bad mouthed the Nords to your heart content since the minute you showed up here. Don't you think that I don't know how you tried to investigate the origin of my technologies and even tried to interrogate some of my men about the 'Soaring Flame'." I faced Viscount Lucius with facts.
"And you, you tried to make the native Nords act against the non-Nords and went to snoop around Jarl Korir to convince him to Join Ulfric's shit show." I also directed some of the facts to Captain Mislav.
These two were actually very busy since the time they showed up in Winterhold and were working hard to stir trouble for me. If not for my 'Team 0', things would have taken a bad turn.
I was gazed at with a lot of discontent and negativity by the two envoys.
"The Empire's orders are abs…"
"Jarl Ulfric wants you to…"
They tried to retort at me at the same time.
"Both The Empire and Ulfric can go and suck a bag of dicks for all that I care about."
To my words, all the parties fell silent. I made a clear statement. The two forces only work for their own benefits, I know very well that they will try to rip my stronghold in Winterhold apart as soon as they get the chance.
The Dare Dragon Group rose to power in a desolate location and didn't attract any attention. Within only one year, it now controls one-ninth of Skyrim's landmass and the populace is growing at a drastic rate. Most of the Dark Elves in Windhelm and the worshippers of Talos, who are being chased by the Thalmor, chose Winterhold as a safe haven. Even a small settlement was constructed near to Whispering Mine for the Dark Elves who wanted to live near the Shrine of Azura.
As a new power with that size rises, the other power will be worried and act against it right away. When I killed all the spies of the Empire, the Stormcloaks and the other forces when Alina and the rest disappeared, it made them all realize that they have underestimated the Dare Dragon Company. This is why a ginormous whale like the East Empire Company has sent its branch manager of Skyrim, Vittoria Vici, to investigate us.
Actually, if the reports are accurate, Vittoria Vici just arrived at Skyrim during the last King's Tournament that I didn't attend, she and her mother, Alexa Vici, had a meeting with Maven Black-Briar and they seemed to have hit it well.
As all the parties managed to get a grip of their temper, we all sat down once again.
Silence took over for a while and the two parties realized that I already know their game and there is no point to hide poison in the honey anymore.
As we were about to talk once again, the door to the meeting room opened and my secretary rushed in informing me with some new participants in the talk.
"What are you doing keeping them out? Let them all in… Quickly!"
This is not the type of people I should keep waiting.
As soon as she went out, some people clad in clean expensive robes came in.
On the lead were Nurina and Savos Aren followed by Tolfdir and the new head of the Destruction Magic Major, Faralda. There were four more individuals, two Nords, a Khajiit and a Wood Elf that I didn't recognize. They were all old men with massive beards, except the Khajit of course, he had a glorious mane.
From the air around them alone, I could tell that these are all Arch-Wizards.
Summing it up, six Arch-Wizards and two Master Wizards one of them is a half step away from becoming an Arch-Wizard.
The hell is this formation?
The weakest among them should be Faralda and she can pretty much hand me my ass if she got serious, who on Nirn are these people.
<These are the hidden masters from the College, they are considered above that of the Arch-Mage in position and mostly hermits who live in seclusion. They are also the ones who helped me survive this long in and Incorporeal state.>
The Augur was the one who answered me.
Such a thing actually exists?
They don't feel as powerful as Lord Divayth Fyr but their Auras are equivalent to Nurina and Savos.
Why in the world are those monsters here?
***
The newcomers came in and sat in a corner of the room. Everyone could tell that these eight are here to observe as the only action they took was nodding for us to continue.
With the powerful feeling the gave off and Nurina's known status as my Master, these people were on my side.
Eventually, everyone silently sat down. Each group gathered their heads together and started to think of the situation.
A power arose but it was still small and meaningless. Then two hidden clans joined the fray and supported the new power making it able to be a small strong force. The plan was to oppress them fast and drag them to a side but a new player moved. The College of Winterhold, that normally didn't participate in any sort of a power struggle, showed its full power.
No one was ready for this change of events.
All they could do now is play it plane and throw all the cards on the table.
"We have demands."
"The Empire has demands too."
"We will hear them. If they are unjust, then don't blame our rudeness."
As I replied, the people on the table turned gloomy once again.
I then pointed to the Stormcloak messenger to speak first.
"Very well. Jarl Korir, as the ruler of Winterhold, we ask you to open the docks for our ships and allow us to resupply and pass through the northern waters."
Captain Mislav directed his words to Jarl Korir instead of me. It seemed they still had some hope that Korir would work against me.
But…
"I can't make things difficult for Jon Dare." That's what Korir replied with.
Everyone other than my inner circle looked at Korir with eyes wide open.
What kind of reply was that?
This man, if he could just be swayed to any side, he can strip me from my title as a Thane and end the contract with the Dare Dragon Company. To them, he was just stubborn but they finally noticed what is wrong.
"J- Jarl Korir, this is unrelated to Thane Jon. We just asked…"
"I can't make things difficult for Jon Dare."
Korir answered with the same words once again.
The Imperials and the Stormcloaks looked at each other trying to figure out what is going on.
"Jarl Korir, all we as…"
"I can't make things difficult for Jon Dare- I can't- I just can't- I- I- I can't make…"
It seems that Korir.exe is not responding.
The scene became a bit bizarre just like I wanted it to be.
"Program Two, Reboot!" I only said those words.
Korir who was glitching stopped all of a sudden. The mental burden seemed to have overheated the circuits in his bean size brain.
With just that, Korir turned normal once again.
The light of understanding shone on the room. Korir was now proven to be nothing but a doll in my hands.
Captain Mislav clicked his tongue and looked at me.
"Once a puppet, always a puppet."
To his words, I just smiled in return.
Korir was a sorry piece of garbage that sold Winterhold for pirates, no one had pity for the likes of him and the mystery about me controlling him was solved… or rather became more mysterious. Swaying him with money or anything is now impossible.
"Sigh! Thane Jon." Captain Mislav gave up and looked at me.
"If you want to pass through the Northern waters then it's all good and fine, according to the law, these waters only belong to Skyrim which means everyone has the right to navigate through them. However, things are different about the coastline. We can only allow trading ships, any military ship or operation near the coastline with no further approval is a direct aggression."
"... Fair enough!" Captain Mislav nodded.
"The Empire would like to send reinforcements to Fort Kastav south of Winterhold." Viscount Lucius.
"As a Thane and a Law Enforcer of the Great Kingdom of Skyrim and the Empire, I would pretty much welcome more stability and security to the Hold I serve in. Still, the Fort would always demand supplies and recruits at a low cost. I would welcome the idea in any time of stability but right now I would prefer to set up some rules and numbers."
"Great! I would send the Fort Commander and inform him of all the details." Viscount Lucius replied.
This concluded the first round which was rather peaceful.
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